Today's young radiologists see their jobs in different light, Gen X and Y imagers feel more keyed in to technology than older rads, bring new requirements and expectations

May 1, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Today's young radiologists see their jobs in different light, Gen X and Y imagers feel more keyed in to technology than older rads, bring new requirements and expectations BY REBEKAH MOAN, Ms. Moan is deputy editor of Diagnostic Imaging. Staff Care, a division of the recruiting firm Merritt Hawkins & Associates, has a Country Doctor award, not for radiologists but for family practitioners. One Mississippi physician, from Morton, used to work 70 hours a week and volunteered for the high school football team in his spare time. When Dr. Howard Clark retired, it took two family practitioners and a physician's assistant to cover his caseload, according to Kurt Mosley, Merritt Hawkins' vice president of business development. Young physicians, radiologists included, don't work the same way as their older counterparts. They are more keyed in to technology and place more emphasis on their personal lives. “I have a life outside of work” is a good motto to describe the Gen X and Yers, also called Millenials. They are not interested in working 70 hours a week. What this means for radiology practices is that it will take more doctors to fill the shoes of those who retire. It also means the younger doctors have different demands, as illustrated by the need for two physicians to cover the practice once run by Dr. Clark in Mississippi. They may not be satisfied working the long hours their counterparts did, and the flexibility and leisure that nighttime teleradiology offers them has made it a popular option. The total number of radiologists who are 46 or younger is 12,866, according to Phil Miller, vice president of communications for Merritt Hawkins. That's roughly 62% of the total radiology workforce, and the number is growing. “When I started in this business 20 years ago, when doctors— male and female—would call, it was always location, location, location, like real estate. Now it's lifestyle, lifestyle, lifestyle,” Mosley said.

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